Connectors for the termination of flat flexible cable are well known in the industry. One example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,319, entitled Flat Conductor Cable Connector. The connector disclosed teaches of a connector in which bared cable conductors of a flat conductor cable are bent around an insulating nose and the nose is inserted into a recess in a terminal carrying block so that each terminal engages a single conductor. The desired relationship between the terminals and nose, when fully inserted, is assured by a tang or stop which projects from the terminal into the path of the nose. Preferably the nose is provided with a plurality of ridges and valleys along its length so that the individual conductors lie in the valleys and are separated from adjacent conductors by ridges.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,371 shows another example of a connector for use with flat cable. The invention is characterized in that a contact housing having plural signal contact members and plural ground contact members are disposed alternately and in parallel one with another within the housing. Respective leading portions of the contact members are projected into an internal space formed at a rear portion thereof. A cable base is provided for connection to a flat cable comprising plural signal conductors and plural ground conductors which are disposed alternately and in parallel one with another. Respective naked end portions of the conductors are mounted at least along one of an upper and lower surface thereof and a bus bar is connected to the naked end portions of the ground conductors. By inserting the cable base into the internal space of the contact housing, a leading portion of each of the signal contact members may be brought into pressure contact with the end portion of the corresponding one of the signal conductors, and a leading portion of each of the ground contact members may be brought into contact with a part of the end portion of the corresponding one of the ground conductors that is in contact with the bus bar.
Although the prior art connectors described herein, and many other types, operate effectively to terminate ribbon cable which have sufficient spacing provided between the conductors, a problem arises when the spacing between the conductors is reduced. In particular, when the spacing between the conductors is in the range of 0.5 mm (0.0198 inches), the prior art connectors will not provide the electrical connection required.
It would therefore prove advantageous to provide an electrical connector in which the spacing of the terminals did not depend upon the molding tolerances of the connector. This would insure that the spacing of the terminals would correspond to the spacing of the conductors in the cable, thereby providing a positive electrical connection therebetween.